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Monday, August 12, 2019

UPDATED: Very Brief Epstein Update

The WSJ is reporting that Bill Barr is taking a very hands on approach to the Jeffery Epstein death investigation. He is requiring FBI Deputy Director Dave Bowditch to report to Deputy AG Jeffrey Rosen every three hours. That strongly suggests that Barr regarded this as a very important case.

The WaPo reports that Epstein was in an upbeat mood. Fox says, although not confirmed, that sources say Epstein was considering cooperation to reduce his sentence.

UPDATE 1: This appears to be a very well informed article about conditions and procedures at the MCC, and specifically within the Special Housing Unit (SHU) where Epstein was being held:

Why The Most Likely Explanation For Epstein’s Death Is Suicide By Negligence 
I think at the end of the day we will all learn that alleged child rapist Jeffrey Epstein was able to kill himself because of gross incompetence. Here’s why.

UPDATE 2: Techno Fog points to indicators of the essential underlying questions:

 Techno Fog 
@Techno_Fog 
Prior DOJ possession of Epstein's finances/corporate records leads to fascinating questions:  
What did the previous DOJ investigation reveal about Epstein's funding? 
And did the finances prove Epstein's ties to intelligence?
Techno Fog 
@Techno_Fog 
With respect to Epstein’s finances, NYT reports that Epstein’s financial lawyers have retained criminal defense lawyers. 
We know through court filings that the DOJ had Epstein's banking/corporate records dating back to 2007. 
What changed since then??

7 comments:

  1. I buy Court's explanation.

    What is the line? Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

    I don't think the Clintons got to him (nor do I think Hillary was involved in the death of Vince Foster, outside of yelling at him).

    I don't think Barr got caught looking the other way, or that Trump had him done in. I think the guards involved, who now claim to be overworked, should be fired.

    I remain interested in seeing how the criminal case proceeds. I suspect, alas, that a good bit of what Epstein would have used to lighten his sentence, or to exculpate himself, material that might have been career-ending for any number of alleged miscreants, will not see the light of day. That will be a loss.

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    1. Yes, that's what I called my "default assumption." Still, best to verify. The only reason I've drawn attention to this case is because I think it has larger implications for the corruption of our politics.

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    2. If I may I'd say it has huge implications for the "perception" of corruption in government. Even if it is simple incompetence what lesson is the street level Deplorable to draw from this? The most notorious criminal in custody in America, with the most widespread and embarrassing political dirt on some of the most powerful people on the planet, in the premier incarceration facility, charged with one thing and one thing only, keep him alive, and the failure was total. Yes, no doubt the guy's at the bottom will be fired. Everyone else will go back to business as usual playing musical .gov promotion chairs to a sweet pension or political future when this was an utter FUBAR from top to bottom. This is a major blow to credibility and trust of Gov't. Many hearts are being hardened. Neutering the 2nd A. via Red-Flag Laws, increased background checks, "assault" weapons bans, and the rest Imperium's wish list just became a much harder sale for us not "feeling the love" of the Imperium Tribus. Again, they just had one fairly straight forward job, so what won't gov't screw up.
      Tom S.

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    3. Well said. I think Barr understands all that--as witness his statement linked in the post I just put up. This was a super high profile case, and Barr knows that failure here will reflect on his efforts to regain control of DoJ and recommit it and the FBI to the rule of law.

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    4. I wouldn't be spending time on this if it were "simply" a sex case.

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  2. A simple prediction. Many (if not most) people will not have confidence in any official report of Epstein's death. Cynicism will grow and social trust will continue to decline. People living in the DC bubble will continue to believe that the media is successfully persuading the masses that the approved narrative is sound and hence that perceived credibility can be controlled. This disconnect will lead to greater insanity coming out of DC and the vicious cycle will continue until something breaks.

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